The realities of work and new forms of web-based communication technology

Theft in the workplace

Workplace theft hits UK retailers - The Centre for Retail Research said the UK was one of the worst countries in Europe for stealing by employees, costing employers £1.5bn last year (BBC News). According to Professor Martin Gill, a criminologist at Leicester University, several circumstances lead to employees doing it - when staff feel marginalised and not attached to the organisation, when they have some sort of gripe about the way they've been treated, the culture of the organisation, and just having the opportunity to steal things. An audio version of this article is also available here (see link on right hand side of page).

This article appears to contrast with an article that appeared in The Guardian last month that suggests UK workers are 'among most honest in Europe' (Susan Smillie). Recruitment company Kelly Services said employees in the UK were generally more ethical in their behaviour at work than those in countries such as France, Germany and Spain. The claim followed a survey of 19,000 workers in 12 countries across Europe.

Two other work-related articles caught my eye today. The first outlines the lengths Marks and Spencer executives have gone to in arresting flagging sales. In Guru fires up M&S staff in bid to lift sales David Hencke of The Guardian reports on a plan to "re-motivate" 56,000 staff where one event alone is said to have cost over £10m to arrange! The second article is quite disturbing in that it looks at the suicide rate amongst vets - many an inspiration for animal-loving children - and how the suicide rate for the profession is nearly four times the national average and double that of doctors and dentists. See A vet's life - stresses great and small (BBC News) for more detail.